On one hand we want to be dominant militarily and economically in Europe ( the elites) and on the other hand most of the public knows we are being fleeced. We will do no more about this issue than we have on our southern border issue.
Thank you! Europe has a dim future. They are no longer fully free, having suppressed speech for years now. We're I a young man again I would by no means fight for them.
When my father was stationed in German '66-'69, we saw the beginnings of the slide. It really got going once the socialist coalition won in '69 elections. It took awhile for the momentum to build, but by the late 90s, the Bundeswehr was a shadow of itself. Ossie stupidity really cut in with Schroeder and Merkel. Germany, I think, is a lot cause. Not even Putin's war in Ukraine has made a dent in their thinking.
As long as politicians here and in Europe fritter away money on social programs for their increasing indolent and grabby constituents, nothing will get done because a politician's survival trumps everything else.
I agree that the Europeans have NO clue about the United States. Hell, the political classes in both the EU and the US have no clue about their own countries. I'm getting a definite "1848" vibe...that major political turmoil is in the wind. Time to get my rent-a-guillotine business started.
Having said that, three thoughts occur to me:
1. The center of gravity of NATO has shifted eastward. The former Warsaw Pact states are now the front line. This is a Good Thing, as they don't have the self-loathing of Western Europe.
2. Europe gets less from their defense Euro than they ought. European nations regard defense acquisition as an industrial subsidy, with weapons as a side-benefit.
3. If you really want the Americans to stay, think about paying them. A hundred billion Euro in the DOD budget would be mighty persuasive.
The problem isn’t just military. Because money is fungible and defense a first responsibility, the American taxpayer has been footing the bill for the ridiculous European welfare state. If we left (which we should; every European country is wealthy enough to support its own defense, and every European country is technically adept enough to create the deterrent that Americans (really) are there to provide), Europe would have to somehow pay both its own defense AND its welfare state. Good luck with that.
In reality, there’s no need to defend a demi-continent with a total fertility rate far below replacement. If they don’t believe in their own future enough to populate it, who cares if that future is “free,” and why pay for it?
Two power polars of the now multipolar world are Europe and the U.S. Both are fading badly economically due in large part to Green Nude Eel energy policies that are destroying the economies EVs, wind and solar (see Germany), reliance on as noted cheap Russian POL (Germany / EU) and Middle East / Venezuela (U.S.). As economies decline, so does defense spending as a priority. So, it is arguably national suicide to head down the Green Energy path. The saying that the Greens are watermelons (green on the surface, Red (communist) on the inside) has a lot of truth. Societal decay and rot come to all empires in history; it's a well documented pattern of human behavior. A casual glance will see adversary poles (Russia, China, Iran) in the multipolar world contributing to the social decay as well not just with energy but other means (Tik Tok, etc). Oddly enough, at time with the assistance of our own government. Very strange! Or not...
Its a moot point anyway. When the United States blow up Nordstream and ended European access to cheap Russian gas that act of terror ENDED any chance of european re-armament. Factories need energy, lots of it and affordable. Europe will soon be without any industry...
Concur with Europeans having no clue about the size of the USA.
During my time as an F-14 FRS instructor at NAS Oceana, we had Brit exchange crews come through as instructors. To a man, the first time they flew a cross-country from Oceana to Miramar, they could not believe how big this country is. One even said, once we got out to Miramar, “We’d be deep into the Soviet Union if we flew this same distance east from Great Britain.”
Europe is finished. So why bother spending any money on defense instead of enjoying what little time is left? The barbarians will only be meaner if you resist.
I read an article just this morning about a similar issue; the Canadian Navy is apparently in deep trouble. Lack of maintenance, low manning, low recruiting, low budgets, all because Trudeau wants to chase leftist policies, and because they're right here north of the USA, so we'd certainly help them.
But Canada, too, is being invaded, and the "elites" in Toronto either don't care or are aiding the Muslim invaders. Britain is already gone, and Ireland is in the news this week for this very reason. Scandinavia is besieged, Germany has being overrun, and the invaders are coming to Italy. The Italian Navy needs to lay a million mines along the North African coast, and sink every ship that makes it through. And sink/seize the motherships that the NGOs use to transport Libyans to Lampedusa.
Nope...its a nice fantasy...but only the USN has this capability. This has all but been publicly admitted. Some Ukranians in a stolen boat is just propaganda fiction for the sheep...
The Bundeswehr short of assault rifles for "political reasons"? This in the country where the assault rifle was invented? I can understand why reliance on the American military started in the wake of WW2 and the advent of the Cold War; a region that saw land, demographics, and culture nearly wiped out in two disastrous wars, faced with a third even more (potentially) devastating war? Sure, let's rely on the Americans, they can do anything! And I guess if you let the Americans worry about the Big Bad Bear to the east, well, you can concentrate on other things. Wow. Tangled web. Thanks for this post!
The U. S. is, and has been, a maritime nation. It is through a robust Navy that we best support world stability. Let the regions take care of themselves while we worry about security and free commerce at sea. That is also compatible with a robust far East policy.
On one hand we want to be dominant militarily and economically in Europe ( the elites) and on the other hand most of the public knows we are being fleeced. We will do no more about this issue than we have on our southern border issue.
Thank you! Europe has a dim future. They are no longer fully free, having suppressed speech for years now. We're I a young man again I would by no means fight for them.
When my father was stationed in German '66-'69, we saw the beginnings of the slide. It really got going once the socialist coalition won in '69 elections. It took awhile for the momentum to build, but by the late 90s, the Bundeswehr was a shadow of itself. Ossie stupidity really cut in with Schroeder and Merkel. Germany, I think, is a lot cause. Not even Putin's war in Ukraine has made a dent in their thinking.
As long as politicians here and in Europe fritter away money on social programs for their increasing indolent and grabby constituents, nothing will get done because a politician's survival trumps everything else.
I agree that the Europeans have NO clue about the United States. Hell, the political classes in both the EU and the US have no clue about their own countries. I'm getting a definite "1848" vibe...that major political turmoil is in the wind. Time to get my rent-a-guillotine business started.
Having said that, three thoughts occur to me:
1. The center of gravity of NATO has shifted eastward. The former Warsaw Pact states are now the front line. This is a Good Thing, as they don't have the self-loathing of Western Europe.
2. Europe gets less from their defense Euro than they ought. European nations regard defense acquisition as an industrial subsidy, with weapons as a side-benefit.
3. If you really want the Americans to stay, think about paying them. A hundred billion Euro in the DOD budget would be mighty persuasive.
The problem isn’t just military. Because money is fungible and defense a first responsibility, the American taxpayer has been footing the bill for the ridiculous European welfare state. If we left (which we should; every European country is wealthy enough to support its own defense, and every European country is technically adept enough to create the deterrent that Americans (really) are there to provide), Europe would have to somehow pay both its own defense AND its welfare state. Good luck with that.
In reality, there’s no need to defend a demi-continent with a total fertility rate far below replacement. If they don’t believe in their own future enough to populate it, who cares if that future is “free,” and why pay for it?
Two power polars of the now multipolar world are Europe and the U.S. Both are fading badly economically due in large part to Green Nude Eel energy policies that are destroying the economies EVs, wind and solar (see Germany), reliance on as noted cheap Russian POL (Germany / EU) and Middle East / Venezuela (U.S.). As economies decline, so does defense spending as a priority. So, it is arguably national suicide to head down the Green Energy path. The saying that the Greens are watermelons (green on the surface, Red (communist) on the inside) has a lot of truth. Societal decay and rot come to all empires in history; it's a well documented pattern of human behavior. A casual glance will see adversary poles (Russia, China, Iran) in the multipolar world contributing to the social decay as well not just with energy but other means (Tik Tok, etc). Oddly enough, at time with the assistance of our own government. Very strange! Or not...
Greatest threats to Europe:
1. WEFers
2. Migrants
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...420. Russia, maybe?
As far as the US, it doesn't hold "free Europe (what a joke)", it binds Europe to a subservient status.
Its a moot point anyway. When the United States blow up Nordstream and ended European access to cheap Russian gas that act of terror ENDED any chance of european re-armament. Factories need energy, lots of it and affordable. Europe will soon be without any industry...
Concur with Europeans having no clue about the size of the USA.
During my time as an F-14 FRS instructor at NAS Oceana, we had Brit exchange crews come through as instructors. To a man, the first time they flew a cross-country from Oceana to Miramar, they could not believe how big this country is. One even said, once we got out to Miramar, “We’d be deep into the Soviet Union if we flew this same distance east from Great Britain.”
Europe is finished. So why bother spending any money on defense instead of enjoying what little time is left? The barbarians will only be meaner if you resist.
I read an article just this morning about a similar issue; the Canadian Navy is apparently in deep trouble. Lack of maintenance, low manning, low recruiting, low budgets, all because Trudeau wants to chase leftist policies, and because they're right here north of the USA, so we'd certainly help them.
But Canada, too, is being invaded, and the "elites" in Toronto either don't care or are aiding the Muslim invaders. Britain is already gone, and Ireland is in the news this week for this very reason. Scandinavia is besieged, Germany has being overrun, and the invaders are coming to Italy. The Italian Navy needs to lay a million mines along the North African coast, and sink every ship that makes it through. And sink/seize the motherships that the NGOs use to transport Libyans to Lampedusa.
Like in the biblical story, the West sold its scientific and industrial birthright for a bowl of soup.
Nope...its a nice fantasy...but only the USN has this capability. This has all but been publicly admitted. Some Ukranians in a stolen boat is just propaganda fiction for the sheep...
The Bundeswehr short of assault rifles for "political reasons"? This in the country where the assault rifle was invented? I can understand why reliance on the American military started in the wake of WW2 and the advent of the Cold War; a region that saw land, demographics, and culture nearly wiped out in two disastrous wars, faced with a third even more (potentially) devastating war? Sure, let's rely on the Americans, they can do anything! And I guess if you let the Americans worry about the Big Bad Bear to the east, well, you can concentrate on other things. Wow. Tangled web. Thanks for this post!
The U. S. is, and has been, a maritime nation. It is through a robust Navy that we best support world stability. Let the regions take care of themselves while we worry about security and free commerce at sea. That is also compatible with a robust far East policy.